Case description
Former Tsentrenergo officials and the head of the United Energy company are accused of intentionally causing UAH 176.8 million in losses to the energy company through fraudulent electricity sales.
Oleksandr Uvarov, former Tsentrenergo board member; Kateryna Tokar, former director of the Tsentrenergo department; as well as Andrii Korotkevych-Leshchenko, head of United Energy private company, are accused of causing UAH 176.8 million in losses to Tsentrenergo PJSC.
According to the investigation, in 2020, Oleksandr Uvarov, former member of the management board of Tsentrenergo, and Kateryna Tokar, former head of one of its departments, concluded electricity sales agreements with United Energy LLC, which was represented by its head Andrii Korotkevych-Leshchenko. According to the conditions of auctions, the enterprise was to guarantee to collect a set volume of electricity.
Under the terms of these agreements, United Energy was obligated to purchase and withdraw specified volumes of electricity according to established schedules. However, the actual volume of electricity withdrawn turned out to be significantly lower than planned. According to the Standard Agreement, in the event of failure to withdraw a portion of the electricity, the buyer was required to pay a penalty amounting to 20% of the value of the unwithdrawn volume.
Aware of this penalty obligation, Korotkevych-Leshchenko initiated changes to the terms of the agreements to avoid paying the penalties. He proposed to Uvarov that the public joint-stock company agree to sign additional agreements that would amend key provisions, particularly those related to electricity withdrawal volumes and penalty clauses.
Tokar was tasked with drafting these additional agreements. She allegedly prepared documents introducing amendments that contradicted the internal regulations of the PJSC and the Standard Agreement. Specifically, the additional agreements signed retroactively with the company, removed provisions from the original agreements that had defined a permissible deviation margin of 5% from the contracted electricity withdrawal volume.
Uvarov then signed the additional agreements on behalf of the PJSC, while Korotkevych-Leshchenko signed them on behalf of United Energy. As a result, the terms of the agreements were officially changed, making it impossible to apply penalty sanctions for under-withdrawal of electricity.
Following these amendments, Tsentrenergo PJSC did not receive the penalty payments it was entitled to under the original agreements. These changes allowed United Energy to withdraw any volume of electricity, in violation of prior arrangements. As a result of these actions, Tsentrenergo suffered losses totaling UAH 176.8 million.
Uvarov is charged under Article 364(2) and Article 366(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Tokar and Korotkevych-Leshchenko are charged under the same articles as accomplices. The preparatory hearing at the High Anti-Corruption Court is ongoing.
